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"Daddy, when do you know that you love someone?" Claudia asked.
Stiles almost spat out his coffee in surprise. "What do you mean, kochanie?"
"How did you know that you loved Mommy?" She clarified. Impatiently stabbing a neatly cut square of raspberry pancake.
He took another sip of his coffee. It seemed hotter now than it did before. "Ugh... Well... It's kind of a complicated story sweetheart." Claudia looked at him expectantly with the green eyes that she got from her mother. He let out a sigh. "Fine... I met your mother in the third grade. We were in the same class. The first time I saw her, I knew I was going to marry her someday."
"And then you kissed and lived happily ever after and had me!" Claudia exclaimed.
A chuckle bubbled in his chest. "Not exactly."
"No?"
"No, we took a long time to get together. Your mother didn't really know I existed for a long time."
Claudia put down her fork and turned around in her chair to face him squarely. "Explain."
God, she's exactly like her mother, he thought. "Your mom and I were in the same third grade class. Her family had just moved from San Francisco to Beacon Hills, so she hadn't started school with the rest of us."
"Like aunt Kira?"
"Just like aunt Kira." He nodded. "But your mom wasn't like aunt Kira. She was super smart and super beautiful. Everyone loved her. Pretty soon she was the most popular girl at school."
"And you loved her too."
"I thought she was pretty and nice, but there were a lot of pretty and nice girls around. No, when my mommy got sick, I was really sad all the time and after she died, I would get really sad and have to leave the class. One day, your mom was late to school and I was sitting outside in the hallway, crying, and she sat down next to me and stayed there until I stopped." He paused for a moment and put the mug of coffee he was nursing back on the table. "She didn't have to, but she did. That's when I started loving your mom."
"What happened then?"
"Nothing, for a while. She was popular and I wasn't. I loved her and she didn't love me. Then when we got to high school, some stuff started happening with your uncle Scott--"
"Werewolf things?"
Stiles' eyes widened. "How do you know about that?" He and Lydia had agreed that there would be no conversations about the supernatural until she turned 13 or if she started showing Banshee abilities. Neither of which had happened yet.
"Gabe told me." She shrugged, referring to the eldest McCall child, who was only a year younger than her. "He started being weird, so I bugged him until he told me."
He made a mental note to murder Scott and his progeny later. "Yes, uncle Scott was going through some werewolf-y things, and your mom was special too--we'll talk about that later--so we started spending more time together."
"And then you kissed and lived happily ever after and had me?" She asked, a hopeful glint in her eyes.
"Not yet, Claudia. Patience you must have, young padawan."
"Yes, Master Yoda." She replied. Pride swelled in his chest. He had managed to get at least one person to watch Star Wars.
"Anyway, padawan, your mom dated people, I dated someone else--"
"Aunt Malia, right?"
"Who's telling you all of these things? Is it uncle Scott?"
She shook her head. "No, aunt Malia told me that you two had been boyfriend/girlfriend before you and mommy got together."
"Your aunt Malia has no tact."
"What's tact?"
"Something you will definitely learn living under my roof." He assured her. "But yes, after your aunt Malia and I broke up, your mom and I went to college. Then we started seeing each other more and more, then one day she kissed me."
"She kissed you?" Claudia squealed. "That's gross."
"Yeah. Then we got together, fell in love, lived happily ever after and had you." He poked her nose. "You little munchkin."
Claudia giggled, but then got quiet. She looked down at her hands, her fingers picking at the cuticles furiously. "Do you miss her?"
"Your mom?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer. The familiar ache in his chest started seeping into the major veins that led to his heart, tendrils pulling it apart. "Every minute that passes."
His little girl's brown hair slipped over her ears and fell into her face. "Does it make you sad that I look like her?"
"Hey." Stiles slipped a finger under her chin and lifted her face up to meet his eyes. They were just as green as hers had been. "You are a piece of her, and a piece of me. Your mom and I existed because you exist. How could that ever make me sad?"
A deep shade of red started invading Claudia's face and her eyes burned with tears she was trying to hold back. "I miss her, dad."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards his chair, then lifted her up onto his lap, hugging her to his chest as tightly as he could. "So do I, munchkin." He could feel her tears going through his shirt. "So do I." He could feel her tears seeping into his shirt. "But it's going to get better. We're never going to stop missing her, but one day all the sadness that we feel right now is going to turn to happiness."
"It is?" She mumbled into his chest.
Stiles nodded and put his chin on the top of her head. "Then we're going to want to remember her. All of the fun times we had, all of her little quirks, and the little things. And that's what counts. That she loved us and we loved her."
"Okay, daddy."
He held her for a minute, feeling her tears stop and her breathing even out. "So tell me, who's this mystery person that you like, or that you think likes you?"
Claudia lifted her head from his chest. "How did you know?"
He gave her a pointed look. "I'm your dad. I know these things."
She rolled her eyes. "There's this girl at school. Her name is Tessa. I like her dad. A lot. But I'm scared to tell her."
Stiles nodded slightly, his eyebrows furrowing. "You should tell her."
"What if she doesn't like me back?"
"Then I will be waiting for you here with a large bucket of ice cream." He assured her.
"Promise?"
"Of course. Now go get ready for school." He set her down on the floor again, ignoring her slight protest. After looking at his watch, he added: "I'll give you a ride."
"Okay." She said, grabbing her backpack from under the kitchen island. He looked back at his cup of coffee, now cold. "Dad?"
"Hmm."
"Thanks."
He shrugged. "It's what I'm here for. That and dad jokes."
Claudia smiled. "Remember to get Moose Tracks."
Stiles scoffed, feigning outrage. "Is there any other flavour?"
She shook her head, putting on her backpack and getting her house keys. Stiles went to grab the keys to the old jeep, stopping only for a moment to linger on the small frame on the counter. The one with the picture of him holding Claudia upside down in front of the jeep, a big smile on her face as her hair hangs down, and Lydia, trying to suppress a laugh by trying to be disapproving and failing. If there was a heaven, he hoped it was comprised entirely of days like that one.